Changes will soon be made to the Brown County Courthouse to improve security and make the building more accessible to people of all of abilities, thanks to a grant and a capital improvement loan.
In November, Judge Mary Wertz applied for a court reform grant through the Indiana Office of Court Services. Last month, the county received a $30,000 grant to fund security work at the courthouse, which was built in 1877.
The grant will be used primarily to restrict public access in the court offices on the second floor and the probation office on the first floor. It also will be used to relocate the jury room to the law library on the second floor and to convert the small meeting room into a juror restroom that is compliant with the Americans with Disability Act.
The above projects were identified as priorities by the Courthouse Security Committee and by an assessment that was completed in early December by the sheriff of the Indiana Supreme Court. The upgrades also will help bring the courthouse into more compliance with the minimum courthouse standards that were adopted by the Judicial Board of Directors, Wertz said.
Recommendations from the assessment included using barriers between the entrance and the private work spaces of court employees in all three offices in the courthouse: clerk, court and probation.
The commissioners are working with Brown County Clerk Kathy Smith on how to remodel the clerk’s office to also meet the mandated security requirements set by the state relating to child support payments and protecting that data.
“They require a very specific set of security protocols to be in place to protect information,” commissioner Diana Biddle said last week.
“Once we get this (remodel) under way, then we’ll meet with the state clerk’s association or somebody to figure out what we’re going to have, what is required.”
Biddle said one possible option is to put a pay window in the courthouse hallway outside of the clerk’s office. “It would be a bank window with bulletproof glass. People who come in to do child support payments wouldn’t have to be at the filing table where you’re inside the room. They can come and make their payment, then go,” Biddle said.
“We’re still looking into what we can do with the building and where we can put it. We have to work it out with the clerk.”
Using grant funds, the court office will be expanded into the current jury room after it’s moved to the law library to be on the same level as the courtroom, which is an ADA requirement. Right now, stairs lead from the courtroom to the jury room. Last month, Wertz said they had a juror who struggled using the steps to get into the jury room.
The entrance to the court offices would then be moved to the west side of the courtroom, and Bailiff Andy Reed’s desk will be moved to the east side of the room. A barrier will then be in place whenever folks enter the court office.
“The barrier will be more like a high railing with a buzzer system to get through as opposed to a more physical barrier,” Wertz said.
“Since we have the security officer downstairs and the bailiff on staff, the restriction of using a higher railing will just provide that level of separation that I think will help the court staff work and provide an additional level of security.”
Building another restroom in the small meeting room next to the law library will create more privacy and separation between jurors and court office employees, since jurors usually use the restrooms that are inside the court offices.
“They’re walking through the private work spaces, and they’re uncomfortable. The court staff is fine, they’re used to it, but it’s not ideal,” Wertz said of the current restroom situation.
The probation office on the ground floor of the courthouse will also have a similar high railing barrier installed and space reconfigured.
Funding it all
Since the court received the grant, the Brown County Commissioners, through tax dollars, will fund anything the grant cannot cover. They will also fund building an ADA ramp to the new court office entrance and build a partial wall up the ramp.
“There will be less distraction with people walking through the courtroom to get to the court office,” Wertz said.
“The hope is to have it all be consistent with the character of that building and make these improvements that will increase the lifespan, the viability and the security of that space. I’m pretty excited about it.”
Other projects related to overall security recently have been completed at the courthouse. A security assessment of the first-floor windows and doors also has been done, but the results are not in from that yet, Wertz said.
“We need to work with what we have, and they (the state) recognize that, but if there is a way we can make these improvements in a fiscally sound way that are common sense and increasing ADA accessibility, security and utilizing the space to its highest advantage, that’s where we’re at, and I’m very excited,” she said.
The $30,000 price tag was based on a project overview by Miller Architects. That firm has done renovation projects in the courthouse before. Any bids for the projects will have to be brought to the commissioners for approval.
All of the grant work must be done by the end of December.
Biddle said the commissioners would like to use Miller Architects get bids from contractors for the projects and write up the project specifications for the bids. “If we can get work done locally, that’s always preferred,” she said.
“I’m not going with the lowest bidder; I’m going with the best craftsmanship for the best price, because this is the courthouse. We don’t want something cheap. … We want the look to be consistent.”
Biddle said she has concerns about whether or not the $30,000 grant can cover all of the work, including installing a new ADA-compliant bathroom. But she said money exists in the capital improvement loan to help cover any of the overages.
In the $2 million capital improvement loan the county recently took out, around $60,000 was set aside for a new coroner’s office. The county is looking at a cheaper solution to get a new work space for the coroner, so that money could be available to help cover any project overages at the courthouse. Biddle said the commissioners also plan to re-prioritize projects on the list for the capital improvement loan money that was taken out in 2018 — like not putting siding on the community center at the fairgrounds after all — to help cover courthouse projects. There may also be money left in what was set aside to cover the construction of the new communication tower on State Road 135 North.
“The commissioners are ecstatic that the judge was able to work with the state court in order to find some security improvement money from an outside source. That’s always helpful,” Biddle said.
Construction is expected to start this spring and will have to be adapted to fit the court calendar.
More work to be done
Other projects remain to be completed at the courthouse that would help meet the minimum security standards and recommendations from the security assessment.
Wertz said she hopes using the north entrance at the courthouse for inmates to enter and exit is a project that is pursued next.
“The standards look for separate pedestrian flows through the courthouse, and right now, where inmates are delivered and exit is the same door. That is certainly not ideal,” she said.
“The sheriff and jail commander support that. That one is kind of out of my control, but that is something I supported with the commissioners to see if we can do that.”
Wertz said a concrete or asphalt parking area with a partial fence around it could be added at that north entrance for inmates to use. Or, a structure could be added onto that entrance to be the sally port for inmates.
Biddle said any type of fence or structure that is to be placed outside of the courthouse would have to be approved by Indiana Landmarks since the courthouse is listed as a historic building. “Ideally, we would have to come up with something that would be aesthetically pleasing and that’s obviously going to cost more money,” she said.
Biddle said another recommendation from the security assessment was to have holding cells for prisoners who are coming to court. Currently, prisoners wait in the courtroom for their hearings or trials with jailers.
A two-story addition could be added to the courthouse to provide a sally port and secured entrance for inmates along with holding cells, she said. “At that point you’re probably talking $1 million. Then if you want to tear down the prosecutor’s office (next door) and put a new building there, you’re talking another $1 million or $2 million based on what’s underneath that building. That building doesn’t have a foundation,” she said.
A state-required court security plan will also need to be completed by next year, Wertz said. The courthouse security committee will do that. The security committee is made up of Sheriff Scott Southerland, Biddle as the commissioner representative, a county council representative, Prosecutor Ted Adams, the jail commander, Nashville Police Chief Ben Seastrom, IT and maintenance supervisor Ric Fox, Bailiff Andy Reed and Wertz.
Before this assessment of the courthouse, the Indiana State Police did one in 2005 and the United States Marshal Service Judicial Security Division did one in 1997. The complete assessment is not available to the public because it relates to security at the courthouse.
“I think that we look more intentionally at security than we did than in 1997, for sure. Just being aware of the shortfalls makes us better, and making these commonsense, fiscally responsible changes is what I feel like I need to do and is part of my responsibility,” Wertz said.
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In 2018, the county hired a firm to make recommendations about how to fix space and accessibility needs related to the Brown County Courthouse.
DLZ offered two suggestions: Move court offices to a new building that would be built next to the Brown County Law Enforcement Center, and move some county employees into the current courthouse after it is renovated.
The estimated cost for the 26,910-square-foot justice center was $6,750,000 and $7,250,000, plus 25 to 30 percent additional for “soft costs” like professional and financing fees and contingencies. That did not include the cost of renovating the current courthouse, which DLZ estimated at $650,000 and $750,000. That work would make it ADA compliant; replace doors, windows and fix brick mortar; and repair and restore the outdoor stairway.
Last week, county commissioner Diana Biddle said building a new justice center is a “possibility,” but she did not see it happening right now in the “grand scheme of things.”
But she called the work that’s planned to be done instead now “another Band-Aid on the courthouse.”
“It still does not address the space needs that we have, it doesn’t address the prosecutor’s office and it does not address a secured, confidential entry to the courtroom for defendants and juveniles. That’s a much, much bigger fix,” she said.
However, the work that will be done to court offices soon would still be used even if a justice center was built and those offices moved out, she said.
“Those issues would still have to be addressed, because you have to have ADA accessibility into those court offices no matter whose offices they are,” she said.
Making secured entrances into offices where all county employees work is something “that will probably come down the pike sooner than we wish it would,” Biddle said.
“I’ve had several people ask me why the county office building doesn’t have metal detectors,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s the age that we live in that we have to be protective of our employees, which is what we’re trying to do.”
The courthouse does have a metal detector that all visitors must go through now. A security officer is also stationed on the first floor to monitor the detector and wand visitors. The entrance to the courthouse has been limited to the east side where the parking lot is. All of those changes were made in 2018.
Judge Mary Wertz said that besides increasing security, her focus is on rethinking the use of space and on making it more accessible for those with mobility challenges.
“I can only really advocate for the things I can see that will improve the use of our current structure, and leave the wisdom of the justice center to the people of Brown County and the commissioners and the council, because I am but one voice in those,” she said.
“I love the courthouse. I think when we remove the courthouse from the center of our community, we do lose something, and that’s a trade-off that has to be considered by the larger community, not just the current judge. I’m just working with what I have, because I think that courthouse has life left in it and I’m trying to just expand that life and really make it a viable courthouse.”
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